PLACID Trials: convalescent plasma therapy shows no positive effects

  • IASbaba
  • November 1, 2020
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PLACID Trials: convalescent plasma therapy shows no positive effects

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Science and Technology 

In news

  • Recently, the PLACID Trial, a multicentre randomized controlled trial (RCT), has shown that convalescent plasma (CP) therapy for Covid-19 patients gave no positive effects and did not improve the outcome of the patients.

Key takeaways of the trial 

  • The trial results indicate that there was no difference in the 28-day mortality. 
  • Progression of Covid-19 from moderate to severe in patients treated with CP along with basic standard care had no difference when compared to basic standard care alone.
  • The use of CP seemed to improve the resolution of shortness of breath and fatigue in patients with moderate Covid-19. However, this did not translate into a reduction in 28-day mortality or progression to severe disease.
  • The ICMR is now considering removing the option of CPT from the national guidelines.

Important value additions 

Convalescent Plasma Therapy

  • Convalescent Plasma, extracted from the blood of patients recovering from an infection, is a source of antibodies against the infection.
  • The therapy uses blood from people who have recovered from an illness to help others recover.
  • Blood donated by people who have recovered from Covid-19 has antibodies to the virus that causes it. 
  • The donated blood is processed to remove blood cells, leaving behind liquid (plasma) and antibodies. These can be given to people with Covid-19 to boost their ability to fight the virus.
  • The plasma donor would have to be a documented case of Covid-19 and healthy for 28 days since the last symptoms.

PLACID Trial

  • It was conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). 
  • Aim: To investigate CPT’s effectiveness for the treatment of Covid-19.
  • It is the first and largest randomised control trial to be completed in the world.

Do you know? 

  • RCT is a trial in which subjects are randomly assigned to one of two groups. 
  • One (the experimental group) receiving the intervention that is being tested, and the other (the comparison group or control) receiving an alternative (conventional) treatment.

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